A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compositions that can be used to improve the skin's visual appearance. In one particular aspect, the compositions concern formulations that can be used to treat skin in and around the lips (e.g., lipsticks, lip glosses, lip balms, etc.). The compositions of the present invention can have an enhanced shine or color when compared with such formulations currently on the market.
B. Description of Related Art
Previous attempts at lip-based products such as lip glosses have either lacked substantivity, tended to pool on the skin, or lacked the ability to effectively treat or prevent lip-related conditions (e.g., dried or cracked lips, lip wrinkles, etc.). Attempts to solve the substantivity and pooling problems resulted in highly viscous formulations that were difficult to spread on the lips, had unpleasant tactile properties (e.g., heavy, oily, tacky, etc.), and tended to clump or cake together. This resulted in lips that had an unpleasant aesthetic appearance and a streaky/non-uniform coloring.
Attempts to solve the lip treatment problems resulted in unstable formulations or formulations that simply failed to provide the user with an effective amount of the active. The instability oftentimes was attributed to the active ingredients in that such ingredients adversely affected the viscosity of the formulation. A lip gloss that was too thin tended to pool, which resulted in uneven lip protection, as the actives also pooled together. A lip gloss that was too thick caked or clumped together, which resulted in uneven application of the product on the lips. A lip gloss that had the right viscosity had limited amounts of the active, which resulted in a product that failed to effectively treat lip-related conditions.